


Folksong

by TheTartWitch



Series: Mass Transit/The Gathering of the Fandoms [2]
Category: Blue Exorcist, D. Gray-man, Naruto, Tokyo Babylon, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, 合法ドラッグ | Gouhou Drug | Legal Drug
Genre: F/F, M/M, Mermen, Transforming into humans, so many pairings...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5101484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTartWitch/pseuds/TheTartWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Different pairings in a mermaid au! Probably going to have some long, winding plot that I won't have the patience to write...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Folksong

They’re swimming in lazy circles, avoiding the gaze of curious scientists all around the “habitat” (but it’s basically just a glorified fish tank).

          They’ve tuned the scientists out so thoroughly, they barely even notice the sudden blaring alarm and the scientists dashing around. They’ve entered a trance-like state that blocks everything out but the motions of their tails.

          They freeze when they realize the white coats have disappeared and a girl stands in their place, studying them intently. Her long black hair hangs to her waist in dainty, elegant pigtails. The High One coos to her softly. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen a female, and it’s a sacred sight still. The Folk don’t have females.

          She breathes out a Surface word, attracting more humans, almost all of them male. They gape.

          The Folk swim closer, intrigued. These humans aren’t dressed the same as the white coats.

          The High One coos again, encouragingly, bobbing to the surface and extending a long, scaly arm to the girl, who steps forward hesitantly. A sudden burst of static from a small black box with a stick coming out of the top startles him, and he flops backwards into the tank, wailing and covering his ears. The sound’s slightly muffled underwater, but all the Folk wince and dig a finger into their ears. They don’t go back to the surface after that, their tails brushing against the floor of the tank.

          The girl steps closer, calling out. The Folk stare out at her, tuck their tails beneath them, and sit. The lack of Surface oxygen allows them to sink without floating to the top. She watches them for a moment, her brows furrowed (they watch the fuzzy eels on her head with confusion; Folk don’t have eyebrows, they have special scales and a second eyelid, like a fish).

          Suddenly, she tears up and begins to cry. The humans look at her in astonishment. The Folk become agitated, waves splashing up at the edges of their air-tight container.

          Females are sacred to Folk, seeing as they have none of their own, and so a female crying drives their protective instincts insane. Immediately, one of them rises up to balance against the edge and tuck her chin into the palm of his hand tenderly, mindful of his claws. Her eyes widen as she watches him, unshed tears still dampening her eyelashes (fascinating, more body hair), and he clucks at her, smiling wide enough to show off his teeth.

          She studies him, internally memorizing everything about his appearance: white hair standing up in spiky strands and trailing long down his back, silver eyes with a scar disfiguring one and going all the way down his cheek, burned and blistered right arm, like it’d been held in a fire. His eyes sparkle with mirth, and she doesn’t think he speaks Japanese so they may have trouble communicating, but she doesn’t think they’re violent, not really.

          He doesn’t flinch when she raises her hands to his face, just makes a confused sort of murmur before tilting his cheek into her palm. She smiles warmly and strokes the silver scales along his cheekbones and neck. He shudders and croons at her.

          She feels Kanda’s appearance next to her.

          “Come on, Lenalee. You know Komui wants them back at the Order. He’ll throw a fit if we’re late.” Kanda slides a hand out to pet the merman’s head, marveling that while they have oddly-colored hair, it’s extremely soft to the touch, and he doesn’t dislike it. The boy’s eyes are locked on his, and his head suddenly jerks to the side, teeth sinking into Kanda’s hand. He shouts, and the others rush to him. Lenalee’s eyes are wide as she covers her mouth with her hands.

          They stop moving when they notice the tank. The mermen inside have stopped swimming, with their faces pressed creepily against the glass. Their eyes are locked on the merman on the ground: he’d fallen out and was lying still, too still.

          “Do we put him back in the water?” Tyki muttered, not looking away from the strange activity of the mermen. They shriek, teeth flashing, as the merman on the floor stands shakily on two legs.

          They stare at each other for a moment before the boy screams shrilly. The glass on the tank explodes from the force of almost 16 mermen battering it with their tails.

          “This is too freaky for me!” Rikuo growls, raising a hand at the boy standing before them. Several mermen thrash and growl threateningly at the sight.

          “Do they eat humans?” Seishirou grins maliciously. “In that case…” He freezes when he feels a hand close around his leg. It clutches gently; neither hindering nor hurting, simply stopping him. The merman’s face is kind and he's wheezing from exertion.

          “No, no- only one drop of blood.” The merman speaks, and everyone but the mermen freeze. They coil in on themselves, waiting for the dark-haired creature to continue. “I speak some Surface fine, but Fai can speak every Surface language ever. He’s very smart, you see. Ancient magic.” Seishirou kneels and pulls the merman’s delicate body into his lap. He murmurs, “What was that you said about ‘one drop of blood’?”

          The boy from before, with white hair, laughs loudly. He holds his sides and falls over, landing on a huge blond man with a turquoise tail. The blond scolds him in what sounds like Old English and smacks him over the head with a fin. The humans stare incredulously.

          “To transform. Be human. It doesn’t usually work so well,” The boy murmurs, frowning at the spectacle. “I am Subaru, and that is Allen. We have been told that is more acceptably human than our other names, such as [*strange squeaky screech*] and [*strange noise that sounds vaguely like a car backfiring*].” He smiles hopefully up at Seishirou, thoughtfully hiding his needle-like teeth. “Allen must have absorbed his” he gestures one-handedly at Kanda here, “blood.”

(0)

          Human form is strange. For one, your reproductive organs hang out into space, unprotected. It’s a wonder humans have lasted so long, unable to guard their genitals sufficiently.

          The female giggles at him and gives him her coat when he asks, and he’s so thin it hangs loosely around his bony shoulders.

          He’s hyper-aware of the fact that while the Folk are far from helpless, they are also incapable of proficient movement outside of the water. The Surface’s air, breathed through Folk lungs, is toxic after a few hours. To survive, they’d have to transform into a human, and for that, they’d need human blood. These humans will most likely not be very forthcoming with that.

          He stares at Subaru for a moment, waiting to see if he’ll announce that part (probably not; he’s always been a self-sacrificing bastard like that) and snorts when he hears the boy’s tone: it’s placating, gentle, and sweet, like a baby seal. Not a Folk capable of ripping flesh with their teeth and claws, not a boy able to shoot through the water faster than lightning strikes the earth. Able to kill a human male with a thought, like Fai, or become something neither human nor Folk, like Allen himself or Rin, who’s hanging near the back and goggling at the humans with open interest. It’s been an age since he came to the Surface, and he’s immediately caught and locked in a tank. Pitiful.

          He turns to Fai, intending to make his point and secure all of their lives, but stops when he sees the High One’s face: serene yet curious, regarding the humans before them with something like fascination. He is the eldest among them, born in the very first generation of the Folk, and Allen will never win an argument with him. He settles in with a huff and tries not to notice Naruto’s sudden decisive burst of caterwauling.

(0)


End file.
